A California inmate who had been on death row for over 45 years has died. Jerry T. Bunyard was sentenced to death for murdering his pregnant wife, Elaine, back in 1979—just days before she was due to give birth.
Bunyard passed away on July 10 at the California State Penitentiary in Sacramento, where he was 76 years old at the time of death. Medical staff declared him dead at 4:44 p.m. in an outside medical facility, and the official cause of death will be determined by the Sacramento County Coroner.
He was convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of his wife and their unborn child. Elaine was found deceased in their garage, with evidence suggesting she died from a shotgun wound to the head. Tragically, the unborn child soon followed due to oxygen deprivation. Investigators revealed that Bunyard enlisted a childhood friend, Irwin Popham, to carry out the crime. Popham, who had a troubled background and often stayed with the Bunyard family, was reportedly asked by Bunyard to kill his wife out of jealousy, believing she was pregnant by another man.
Court documents indicated that Bunyard had attempted to offer Elaine a divorce settlement of $50,000, which she declined. His motivations seemed somewhat tangled, as he was also keen to pursue a relationship with a new girlfriend.
Initially, Popham denied involvement in the murder, but he later settled the issue by making a payment soon after the killing, with further payments contingent on Bunyard receiving life insurance benefits from his wife’s death. The plan was to disguise the murder as a suicide, a calculated move that ultimately didn’t work.
In a brutal attack, Popham hit Elaine with a frying pan while she was washing dishes and then dragged her unconscious into the garage. After placing her in a chair, he fatally shot her with Bunyard’s shotgun. Reports noted that the gruesome scene led Popham to abandon the suicide ruse in favor of framing it as a robbery.
As of now, California has 567 inmates awaiting execution. In a move that sparked various reactions, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in 2019 that paused the death penalty, giving respite to all individuals facing execution in the state.
